Horst Köhler resigns as President of Germany

Today Köhler announced his resignation as President of Germany. This came after German politicians criticized comments made by Köhler in relation to overseas military deployments.

“In my estimation, we are in general on our way, indeed in our society as a whole, to understand that a country of our size, with that orientation and therefore dependency on export, needs to know, that in case of doubt or emergency a military deployment is necessary, to preserve our interests, for example free trade routes, for example preventing regional instability, which will assuredly affect negatively our chances to safeguard jobs and income through exports.”

Horst Köhler, Interview with Deutschland radio, on 22 May 2010.

He issued a statement saying, “I declare my resignation from the Office of President, with immediate effect.” The resignation was considered a “surprise,” and both pundits and opposition politicians labelled it “an overreaction.”

As stipulated by the Grundgesetz, the powers of the vacant office are executed by the President of the Bundesrat Jens Böhrnsen.